15 years old?

T

oday is David’s birthday—he’s fifteen years old. It’s hard to believe.

This past weekend was focused on things he would enjoy, so we spent Saturday at the River Fest—a fun gathering of the people from town at the Shenandoah River. The Park Service sets up hammocks all around along the banks of the river and folks bring their picnic baskets and coolers, claim a picnic table and a hammock or two, and then just kick back and enjoy the beauty of the Central Shenandoah Valley. It’s a lot of fun.

They also had some presentations and displays set up for the kids. David enjoyed meeting the llamas and feeding them hay. He also found a bunch of snakes sunning themselves on the rocks along the bank when we went for a walk. Before long, about 30 people had gathered to look at the snakes and watch them swim between the rocks and climb up on the rocks and stare back at us.

David posing with one of the llamas (and his new walking stick)

But David’s actual birthday is today, and Aunt Shawne, Uncle Harold, and David’s cousin, Luke, are visiting this afternoon. And I have taken the day off to enjoy the celebration.